Avalanche center Jim Dowd, right, celebrates his goal with teammate Alex Tanguay during the second period against the Stars in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series in Dallas on Sunday. The Avs prevailed in overtime, winning the best-of-seven series 4-1.

Dallas – Mike Modano did a Willis Reed for the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

But unlike the former New York Knicks center, whose inspirational return from injury helped win an NBA title, all Modano got for coming back from a concussion was a good view of the goal that beat his team.

Modano was on the ice when Andrew Brunette scored the game-winner in overtime of Game 5 to close out the Stars’ playoff series with the Avalanche. Modano also was on the ice for Colorado’s other two goals in the 3-2 loss, giving him a minus-3 on the final statistics sheet.

But many players might not have done what the Stars captain did, coming back from the dressing room after suffering a concussion when he took a hard hit from Colorado’s Brett Clark at 10:20 of the third period.

Modano had to be helped to the dressing room, where he laid down, rested and regained enough strength, if not clarity, to return for OT. Brunette’s goal seemed to hurt even more.

“All that matters is how you finish up, and we are obviously disappointed right now,” Modano said.

Modano said Clark’s hit was not dirty, although, “it seemed like he had me lined up pretty early.”

Clark said there was no ill intent with the hit, which was not penalized.

“I just tried to kind of hit him shoulder to shoulder,” Clark said. “I hit him with a clean hit. I’m glad he was able to come back.”

No friends in playoffs

The series loss could jeopardize Stars coach Dave Tippett’s job. It was the second consecutive first-round loss to the Avs for Tippett’s team, which earned the second seed in the Western Conference.

Tippett and Avs coach Joel Quenneville are close friends and former teammates.

“In the playoffs, you just take your friendship out of it,” Quenneville said. “Later on, you can sit back and reflect. I thought their team played hard the whole series.”

In the postgame handshake line Sunday night, the two goalies spoke briefly.

“I just told him he had a great season, and he wished me all the best for the rest of the playoffs,” Theodore said.

And what of Turco’s reputation as a playoff flop?

“I keep thinking that it’s a team sport,” said Theodore. “I think Marty played well tonight. You need the full team to win some games, and tonight our team played well. I thought he played well, so it’s not fair to put the blame on one guy.”

Second-round tickets

Tickets for the conference semifinals go on sale at 5:30 p.m. today via phone and Internet. Households will be limited to eight tickets per game and will range from $34 to $200. Call 303-830-8497 or 719-520-9090 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. The schedule will be set later this week.

A graduate of Wheat Ridge High School and the University of Colorado, Terry Frei has been named a state's sportswriter of the year seven times -- four times in Colorado and three times in Oregon. He's the author of seven books, including the novel "Olympic Affair" about Colorado's Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion; and "Third Down and a War to Go," about the 1942 football national champion Wisconsin Badgers and the players' subsequent World War II heroism.

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